It is time for all of us to come together. While healthcare workers - doctors, nurses are fighting the COVID-19 at the forefront, the essential providers are keeping us safe and sound in our homes, we all have a role to play in it too in our own ways. CCMB has started contributing in training the medicos from approved COVID-19 testing centres of Telangana in the molecular biology tools they will need to use for diagnosing the virus.
And all of you also have a role in multiple ways.
1. Maintain social distancing
2. Avoid organizing an event or travel
3. Quarantine yourself if you have a travel history outside the city
4. Wash your hands often
5. Contact the medical authorities if you/those you know show symptoms of COVID-19 (dry cough, fever, breathlessness, tiredness)
6. Stay away from misinformation - refer to authentic resources.
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Understand evolutionary history of cheetah before reintroducing it to India
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In a collaborative effort, Thangaraj's group from CCMB with scientists and naturalists from Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, University of Cambridge, National Technological University, Singapore, Zoological Survey of India, Mysore Natural History Museum and Nehru Zoological Park, have studied the evolutionary history of cheetah. They find a much larger evolutionary divide between Asiatic and African cheetah than understood earlier. While India lost its cheetah 7 decades back, the Supreme Court of India has lately allowed the central government to reintroduce African cheetah into the Indian wild for two reasons: 1. The former are more abundant in number than the Asiatic population that now lives in small numbers of 50 in Iran. 2. We thought that the two populations are similar enough to not worry about which population gets reintroduced to India.
In the current light of the understanding of cheetah evolution, it becomes important to acknowledge the genetic uniqueness of Asiatic cheetah, and focus on its targeted conservation.
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Yoga's impact on sperm quality
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Recent studies by researchers at CCMB led by Rakesh Mishra and by Rima Dada at AIIMS-Delhi joined hands to study the effect of yoga on sperm quality, and find a positive correlation between the two. Right now the sample size is small, but the interesting findings merit the need to check the effect in larger populations.
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Pavithra L Chavali for her SERB-Women Excellence Award of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) 2020-22
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Radhika Khandelwal for her selection at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2020. Radhika is a PhD student with Yogendra Sharma.
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Interested in catching up with the science we discuss at CCMB?
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If the lockdown is bugging you down, worry not! This might be a great time for you to get updated with a lot of cool science that different labs in the world take up. You will find many interesting talks on our YouTube channel. The latest addition are a list of talks on genomic studies done in India and the USA to understand their disease predispositions better. So, subscribe to the channel, and keep your eyes on these and other talks that happen at CCMB.
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Interesting opportunities ahead
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Healthcare is going digital, and data-driven in its pursuit of personalized medicine. This encompasses challenges on what health conditions certain populations are more vulnerable to, the appropriate choice of medical treatments and procedures for them. At the Meity Hub at AIC-CCMB, we welcome ideas from you to groom you further, if selected.
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So, use this season to reflect, ideate and innovate to solve the big problems lying ahead on the path of humanity.
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If you have enjoyed reading the CCMB Daak, do subscribe and share it with your friends and colleagues!
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Please send us your feedback at socialmedia[at]csirccmb[dot]org. Looking forward to them.
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